Guest Columns

In my first decade involved in disability issues, I repeatedly heard people claim that marriages involving parents of children with disabilities had a divorce rate of more than 75 percent. So when I began my education leading to becoming a licensed professional counselor, I chose that particular topic as an area of research interest to see if this really was true. What I learned should surprise you.

The most fertile source of insight is hindsight and you never know how far you’ve come until you look back on where you’ve been. During the last few years I’ve had numerous opportunities to look back over my progress, sometimes it’s with humor, sometimes it’s with pride and always with amazement over how I thought issues would turn out and how things really unfolded.

C. C. of Cedar Key writes: “I wrote to you last month about being able to drive my golf cart around the city of Cedar Key without a driver’s license even though my license was suspended, and you told me I couldn’t because it was a motor vehicle and I had to have a valid driver’s license. If that’s true, why do I see kids who don’t have licenses driving golf carts all over the place? If they can do it, why can’t I?”

By JENNI WILLIAMS
British politician Pearl Strachan once said, “Handle them carefully, for words have more power than atom bombs.”
Words are very powerful; they can lift someone up, or quickly bring someone down. Words are especially powerful when speaking to someone who is sick. Saying the right thing at the right time is very important in providing comfort, reassurance and support. Sometimes, despite best intentions, we can say things or raise issues that unintentionally add stress to the lives of those who are ill.